We Jews cannot be silent bystanders while this terror goes on

Your report (Thousands of Jews rally against Hamas, 12 January) mentions that alongside the thousands demonstrating in solidarity with Israel and in support of its so-called "war of self-defence", a "small crowd" witnessed an Orthodox rabbi, standing with "more than a dozen Orthodox rabbis", burning his Israeli passport. What you failed to mention is that, alongside this small group of rabbis - whose opposition to the state of Israel is theological, not political - was a far larger crowd of British Jews and ex-Israelis, demonstrating behind police barriers.

We were there to say that the Board of Deputies who organised the rally in the square do not speak for us; to voice our moral outrage at the war crimes perpetrated by the Israeli government against the already impoverished and stateless Palestinian people trapped in the virtual prison that is Gaza; to demand an immediate end to the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and brutal oppression of the Palestinian people that form the backdrop to this latest appalling cycle of violence; to reject the racism and hatred that allow people to make the grotesque claim that the equation of 100 Palestinian dead for every Israeli killed constitutes legitimate self-defence; to call for an end to both Hamas terror and the terror unleashed by the Israeli military, and a start to negotiations that will lead to a just political solution for the Israeli and Palestinian people.

We are not "pro-Hamas" or "anti-Israel". We are simply human beings who feel any attempt to justify this war is morally abhorrent. For some of us, the moral imperative not to be silent bystanders is the most important lesson we have drawn from our collective history.Dr Judith SuissaLondon

You report on a small rally by supporters of Israel rather than the massive demonstration on Saturday - at 100,000, the largest in support of Palestine in British history - or even the 5,000-6,000 people in Blackburn who marched on Sunday in support of the people of Gaza (larger than the pro-Israel rally). Is this what the Guardian calls "balance"?Cllr Michael LavalettePreston, Lancashire

Professor Robert Fine asks why it matters that the authors of a collective letter condemning Israel's actions in Gaza should declare their Jewish origins (Letters, 12 January). Is it, he wonders, to "give a bad argument good authority"? No, it is to show that the aggressive colonialism of Israel does not represent the view of all Jews. But is his own signature as "professor" meant to give a bad argument good authority? Is he really saying that the civilian deaths in Gaza are the result not of a genocidal and racist policy, but due to accidental collateral damage and negligence? It is morally vacuous to reduce what is happening in Gaza to an academic seminar which does not confront the horror of what is happening.Mike WayneLondon